Interview

'Swagelok is a club of entrepreneurs'

Swagelok , a premier player offering fluid system products, has progressively tapped most of the sectors, and is still expanding its global footprint. Amit Advani, Managing Director, Swagelok, Mumbai, and Mike Bridge, Sanitary Projects Manager, Swagelok Biopharm Services Company, share their views about the company with Nandini Patwardhan

Mike Bridge (left) and Amit Advani (right)

What is the story behind the company's name, Swagelok?

Amit Advani: Swagelok grew fast with tube fittings, its flagship product. These tube fittings have ferrules inside them, which, when tightened, grip onto the tubing, while getting locked in. This is called swagging, and the name Swagelok came from that.

Why are you focusing on the Indian lifesciences sector?

Amit Advani: We grew rapidly after launching in India, as we focused on traditional sectors like oil and gas, power, refining, petrochemicals and CNG. In the last few years, biotech has been declared as the sunrise industry in the country. Today, we have seen an increasing number of clients going into pharma and biotech, compelling us to promote offerings of Biopharm (our division) in India. We have had some very large successes over the last year and a half and we are very enthused by that.

How do the needs of the pharmaceutical industry differ from those of other sectors?

Mike Bridge: Each sector has its requirements. Our experience in the semi-conductor market has helped us understand this market quickly because they have the same needs with respect to cleanliness and material control. However, in the pharmaceutical industry, the critical factor is time. From the time that a biopharma product is approved, to the time it goes to production, and to the time the patent expires, the time is short, and hence, there is more pressure to deliver the parts fast and on time and not have them rejected at the job site. That puts a lot of pressure on companies like us—to have the quality in place, and to have large inventories to ship from.

Would you like to narrate some of your success stories?

Amit Advani: We won a very large life sciences job in Maharashtra and in the South. We have some very big names, who are big buyers of biopharm products. Most of these companies are competing globally and are also looking at meeting all global standards. Hence, they have to have world class products and facilities and there is no compromise anywhere. It is not good enough to have only an 'ok'. They want what they believe is the best, at the best value. I think given our set-up, reputation and the proposition that we bring to the table, we have a good story to tell.

How does Swagelok India fit into the global company Swagelok?

Amit Advani: Swagelok is a club of entrepreneurs. In every region of the world, Swagelok partners with the local businessmen, who essentially put up the front for Swagelok. At the same time, we are seamlessly integrated. We have ERP systems that are common, we can, from our desks in Mumbai, directly place orders into the factory without any manual intervention, and we can check stocks in every location in the world. The philosophy behind partnering with local businessmen exclusively is that you provide support of a global company with global products and global processes, and yet have the local business acumen and local flavour that is required to be successful in a region.

Have you noticed any difference in the markets Swagelok caters to?

Mike Bridge: There are some clear differences, and the best way to understand those is to look at the US market, as compared to the Indian market. The US market has been established for a long time with the same established suppliers in the market. So, as a ten year supplier in the biopharmaceutical market, we had to work very hard to get the successes we have had. When we come to a market that is emerging and growing fast like the Indian market, I see a much more openness to have any discussions about what you are bringing in and then organisations decide. In more established markets, its more like we have already used this, and this is what we are going to continue using. Every place in India, I have been so far and every discussion I have had even during the show, its a hunger for wanting to understand a better way of doing something and a willingness to discuss other options, and that is kind of exciting for a company like Swageok.

What are Swagelok's future plans?

Amit Advani: Globally, these are very exciting times that I have seen in the last eight years. The company is focussed on phenomenally large projects and we have been winning some very large construction projects across the globe, be it in oil and gas, power and biotech. We have got into technologies and have acquired certain companies and their product lines. Essentially, we are in a very flexible high growth mode. We are trying to do whatever the customer wants us to do, of course keeping in mind our philosophies and qualities. From a global perspective the company is very excited and our CEO is also looking at Asia as a growth avenue as it is a fast growing area for us.

There could be investments in this region, or more alliances with customers. In terms of India, we are adding more people, we are already present in eight to nine cities across the country and we are probably going to increase that, we are adding associates, we are increasing trading, we have set up a Welding Service Centre for this region in Mumbai, we are participating in shows, we have experts coming down, we are getting into integrated services wherein we are doing assembles for customers. That is something new.

nandini.p@expressindia.com